God – Page 3 – Ericka O Smith

The Heart of a Servant – a guest post by Amanda Erickson

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I was so little my daddy had to pull a chair up to the kitchen sink so I could stand on it, tippy-toed, to help wash the dishes. Actually, I’m pretty sure he had me rinsing dishes, as my untrained eye and the desire to rush through this chore almost surely would have resulted in not very clean dishes. Daddy was washing, I was rinsing.

Some of my earliest memories of family holidays are of my Daddy drawing my little brother and me to himself and telling us it was time to clean our Grandma’s kitchen. Not all that surprising was how resistant my brother and I were to this idea – downright resentful some times! But my dad, well, he always did it with a cheerful spirit, often whistling or humming a tune while cleaning up the holiday mess.

There are recurring moments that sprinkle through my childhood memories. Daddy washing up dishes at Grandma’s house. Daddy clearing people’s plates from the table at church functions so they could keep right on talking. Daddy staying until the lights were turned out and doors locked so he could help clean up after a party or event.

“Serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13

Over the past 2 1/2 years I’ve been on the receiving end of my dad’s selfless service. Throughout two tough pregnancies and having new little ones of my own, my dad has stepped in to serve me in ways I never knew I needed. During my pregnancies he’d call on his way home from work (he drives by my house to go to and from work) to see if I needed anything on his way by. Whether it was delivering pregnancy cravings or taking out a mostly empty trash bag because super pregnancy nose was in full swing, he did it. And when my husband is out of town he stops by to help give baths and tuck in tots. Although that may be a little self serving since his my two year old loves seeing his Papa, and the feeling is quite mutual. 188349_502463844269_896_n

My dad has the heart of a servant. He serves others and models Christ in a way that makes the Gospel come to life right before your eyes, bringing to life the Scriptural admonition to serve one another in love. Of course as a kid I thought washing dishes at Grandma’s house was some sort of unusual punishment or penance required for enjoying a bountiful Christmas morning. As I grew up though, I realized that inasmuch as Daddy was teaching us to do dishes with a cheerful spirit (confession: I still wrestle with that), the more valuable lesson he modeled for us was that of selflessly and joyfully serving others.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7

1095_10153806737584518_9188000707608900359_n — My father-in-law has the heart of a servant. Truly. He is the first person that came to mind when I turned my attention toward the command to “serve one another.” His consistent example to me over the past 25 years has defined and shaped what it looks like to flesh out this command and has served to inspire me toward living the same. While I’ve seen his servant’s heart in action for the past 25 years of marriage to his oldest, my sister-in-law (Amanda Erickson) has been blessed with a lifetime of living and learning from this most gracious of men. May you be blessed in getting to know my amazing father-in-law, Murray Smith, through the eyes of his biggest fan.

Accepting One Another – Part 1

I am a highly impressionable person. I believe we all are in varying degrees. What we read, what we watch, the company we keep – all of these have a hand in shaping our perceptions and perspective. We vicariously learn through the experiences of the characters we come to know on the screen or in the pages of a book, whether for good or evil. One such character that has shaped my perspective on relating to others is Lorelei Gilmore from Gilmore Girls.

Lorelei is in the front row, red shirt. Her daughter, Rory, sits next to her. Her mother (Emily Gilmore) stands behind her. — Some of our favorite residents of Stars Hollow (and Hartford, CT) gathered around Lorelei (front row, red shirt), the original Gilmore Girl.

Gilmore Girls was a fast-paced, cleverly written show littered with pop culture references and witty banter. I was drawn to the main character (Lorelei) from the first episode in 2000. Lorelei, having become pregnant at sixteen, was now the mother of a sixteen-year-old daughter herself. What drew me to her character was that she accepted people at face value, for who they were at present, not who she wanted them to be. This was starkly contrasted against her own mother’s character whose snarky comments usually left little room for doubt that Lorelei was a constant source of disappointment to her. Lorelei usually managed to find humor even in the most humorless of people or circumstances. She was keenly aware that she didn’t have it all together. That perspective freed her from easily taking offense when those around her didn’t have it all together, either, allowing her to accept people as-is.

Romans 15:7 – Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

PONDER: If you have trouble accepting people as-is, ask yourself this: How did Christ accept you? (Hint: Read Romans 5:8.)

The Art of One-Anothering

Graphic courtesy of http://overviewbible.com/one-another-infographic/

Have you ever realized how many of the verses in the Bible dealing with our personal growth and maturity in Christ involve direct interaction with other people, other sinners?

People can be annoying.

People can be chafing.

People can burrow under your skin with their insensibility.

Some can be so prickly that interaction with them is akin to hugging a hedgehog.

Amazingly, God has commanded us to live in community with other believers, to bear with the annoying, to be polished by the chafing, and to be changed by the process of living life with one another. That adds much needed perspective to those interactions that could otherwise provoke an emotional and divisive reaction. What if you could see such individuals as gifts from God sent for your sanctification instead of criticizing or avoiding them? What if you could actually THANK the prickly people for being avenues through which God chose to mature you?

PONDER: Think of the prickly people in your life. How could their annoyances be used to build your character? Thank God for providentially placing them in your life.

PRAYER: Father, thank You for the prickly people you have placed in my life. Thank you that through interaction with them, You are adding to my own character and molding me more like Jesus. Help me, Father, to truly appreciate them as avenues of my sanctification.

The Art of One Anothering is one of thirty devotionals I’ve been asked to write this year as part of a friend’s year-long devotional project. You can read more short devotionals like this by clicking here or the Devotionals tab at the top of this page.

Help for the Hurting Heart

Because of what I shared here on Monday, I wanted to follow up with some encouragement for those who are currently experiencing brokenness and are “feeling the feels” today. Know this – God loves you and there is help to be found in Him.

Please feel free to share and print this graphic.

A Valuable Gift – a short devotional

Genesis 2:22 – The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

Growing up, I loved looking at the illustrations in my Bible. The stories recorded in the pages of Scripture sprang to life through the illustrations. They became the pictures I see in my minds-eye as I read and reread the Word.

As I was reading about the creation of Eve this morning, my mind was taken back to my childhood and one such illustration. This morning, however, my eyes focused more on the text than the picture in my head and I noticed something new. After God created Eve from the rib he had taken from Adam,

He brought her to the man.

In my mind, I have always seen God creating Eve right next to a sleeping Adam just like my Bible illustrations. This, however – this made me wonder. Did the picture in my head distort the reality of the event?

And then I wondered, Did God intend Eve to be a gift to Adam, bringing her to him like one would present a valuable present?

I love this illustration much better than the one I had in my head all these years. You can almost hear God making the introductions - "Adam, this is Eve. Eve, meet Adam." The Creation of Eve by William Blake is currently held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. — I love this pencil illustration much better than the one I had in my head all these years. I can almost hear God making the introductions – “Adam, this is Eve. Eve, meet Adam.” ***The Creation of Eve*** by William Blake is currently held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

PONDER: Could your husband honestly describe you as a gift to him from the hands of God? What is keeping you from answering with a resounding ‘Yes!’?

A Valuable Gift is one of thirty devotionals I’ve been asked to write this year as part of a friend’s year-long devotional project. You can read more short devotionals like this by clicking here or the Devotionals tab at the top of this page.

Death Grip – a short devotional

Meet Jude. I have a part of my heart reserved for this precious little guy. I am no longer able to hold him in my arms, to touch him with my hands. He would have turned 17 today. — Meet Jude. I am no longer able to hold him in my arms or to touch him with my hands, but he still holds a special place in my heart. He would have turned 17 today.

My grandfather died when I was in elementary school. My remaining three grandparents followed suit over the next twenty years. My father died on my 23^rd birthday. My mother died a few years ago. Within seven months of one another, my husband’s grandparents died (separately) and my second-born son, Jude, died. After my son’s death, we grieved with three separate families at church who also buried their children. Loss has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. The fear of loss has been around just as long. It would be accurate to say that I have held those I loved in a death grip most of my life, always fearing the worst-case scenario would be the one that played out. Two years ago, when I read . . .

For I am the Lord your God, the One Who takes hold of your right hand, Who says to you, “Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.” Isaiah 41:13

. . . it was like God reached over to place His giant, gentle hand on my two clinched fists, and said, “It’s okay. You can let go now. You don’t have to be afraid because I am here. I am helping you.”

PONDER: What are your hands holding, clinched in a death grip? Do you trust God enough to let go?

PRAYER: Father, please help me to loosen my grip on these things that I hold dear. Help me to notice when I begin to clinch my fists, holding tightly to anything other than Your hand. Thank You for wanting to help me learn to trust you more fully, with everything.

Death Grip is one of thirty devotionals I’ve written as part of a friend’s devotional project. You can read more short devotionals like this by clicking here or the Devotionals tab at the top of this page.

Veto Power – a short devotional

John 18-11

I have been pondering John 18:11 this morning and the two opposite sides of the coin represented when it comes to surrendering to God’s will.

Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

On the one hand, I want desperately to be like Jesus, trusting and accepting and following as God directs my life. I want to live in unreserved surrender to His plan in an “all in” kind of way. On the other hand (the one that struggles for dominance), instead of accepting the cup with the trust in God that Jesus displayed, I’m more like, “Well, let’s have a look in that cup first.” I want to discuss – to bargain – with God until we come to some sort of mutual agreement before I take my cup. As one hand reaches for the cup God is handing to me, the other tightens on the sword at my side in a struggle with the desire to have veto power over God’s plan for me.

PONDER: In what areas in your relationship with God do you struggle with wanting veto power? Which hand will you give dominance to today?

Veto Power is one of thirty devotionals I’ve been asked to write this year as part of a friend’s year-long devotional project. I look forward to taking this step outside of my comfort zone by sharing what the Lord is showing me. My hope is that you will find a place here where you feel comfortable in taking that step with me.

A Walking Faith – a short devotional

547168_10151604986352915_72148924_n — Welcome to the family, pup! This is the day we brought Rosie into our home as a member of our family. Oh, did she have a lot to learn back then.

181269_10151712941977915_439136551_n — These are some of my favorite pics of Rosie as a puppy. Though an unenthusiastic participant during Dress Up, Rosie learned to submit to Chloe’s leadership from that first week in our family.

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2 Corinthians 5:7 – “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

When Rosie was a puppy, my youngest daughter began obedience training with her. To help, I sometimes took Rosie on “training walks” around the park by our house to help her learn trust in the one leading her. Without fail, after a few yards Rosie would begin inching ahead of me, taking the lead on our walk. A quick tug on her training collar and she was back by my side, walking alongside me again. The more experience Rosie had during these training walks, the better she was at following my lead. I began to look for opportunities to challenge her, to allow her to choose to trust my lead. Yippee dog up ahead? Great! Children running around the playground? Super! These were opportunities for Rosie to grow in her walk with me, to grow in her trust of me to lead her well. Too often, I am like Rosie in my walk with God. I pull ahead, trying to lead. I get distracted by what’s around me and react instinctively, walking by sight rather than walking by faith in the One leading me.

10497035_10152580987882915_2348894236733199749_o — Undistracted by everything around her, Rosie looks to Chloe to lead her as they walk in this Dallas July Fourth neighborhood parade.

PONDER: What sights are keeping you from walking by faith? What is keeping you from praying, “yet not my will, but yours be done?”

PRAYER: Father, I confess to you that I am tempted to walk by sight in this situation. Please help me to trust you fully so that I may walk by faith. Gently tug at my heart when I pull ahead of your leading. Teach me, Father, to walk with you every step of today.

1548189_870928762963798_2500531386255774058_o — Rosie (with her leader) the night they won Member of the Month for obedience training. Rosie has since won several ribbons and a trophy in club competitions under Chloe’s leadership. She’s come a long way in two years! May I learn, as Rosie has, to trust God fully as I walk in faith with Him leading the way.

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A Walking Faith is one of thirty devotionals I’ve been asked to write this year as part of a friend’s year-long devotional project. I look forward to taking this step outside of my comfort zone by sharing what the Lord is showing me. My hope is that you will find a place here where you feel comfortable in taking that step with me.